1am Shower
by Nenilein
Summary: Yosuke should have a trigger-warning on his nightmares. Especially seeing how he now shares his room with someone who has so many anxiety-buttons to push.


Teddie was all too familiar with horrifying nightmares. Yet, he hadn't known what it was like to watch someone having one. Not until he had moved in with Yosuke, that is.

It didn't happen too often, but when it did, Teddie never quite knew what to do. The first two or three times around, he hadn't even understood what was wrong with Yosuke and was terrified of how his roommate seemed so sick and in pain. He was left in confusion when he found the taller boy perfectly healthy and fine the morning after. Only when he noticed how Yosuke was mumbling in his sleep whenever it happened, that was when Teddie realized what was really going on. After all, it had happened to him too. It was the whole reason he hated sleeping in dark places and always carried a flashlight to bed ever since he had moved in with Yosuke. He needed it, in order to make sure he was awake when he woke up from a bad dream in the middle of the night. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to separate reality and dream.

Dreams had always had something frightful to Teddie. Back, when he was still in his own world, he had never had any good dreams. He distantly remembered that there was a time he didn't dream at all. But then, slowly, the nightmares had started to creep in, growing more vivid and scary the clearer his memory of the time. That's what his nights were like then; cold, dark, full of feelings of loneliness, rejection and uselessness. The nightmares only got a bit better once he accepted his Shadow. He hadn't started getting pleasant dreams until he first decided to try leaving his world.

All the more taken aback was Teddie, when he recognized the sad state he occasionally found Yosuke in at night as the very kind of nightmare he had once been afraid of every night. He hadn't ever considered that Yosuke – or anyone of the others, for that matter – might be having bad dreams like that too. Only now that he became aware of it, it seemed natural to him. Yes, of course, humans also had good dreams and nightmares… It felt like something he should know about, yet every time he found something about himself that was similar to the others, it was surreal.

_'What could Yosuke be dreaming of?'_ he started to wonder, but when he tried to ask one morning at the breakfast table, he was met with a gaze on the taller boy's face that couldn't have conveyed the words '_Just shut up_' any more clearly. The conversation was dead before it could ever even start.

Of course, that didn't change the fact that Yosuke's nightmares kept getting worse.

A pillow over the head to cover his ears didn't help; Teddie couldn't sleep. It was impossible with Yosuke loudly gasping and letting out the occasional whimper as he did. Not only were those noises annoying and loud, but they were also the exact kind of sounds that made all of Teddie's alarm bells as a healer go off. If they were on the battlefield now, Yosuke making sounds like that would be the first sure sign that the next person anyone should cast Diarama on should be him. Grinding his teeth, Teddie tried to think of nice things – cotton candy, ice cream, plushies, bikinis, smooth jazz – until he finally decided that enough was enough. There was no way he could sleep when there was a person just a few meters from him sounding like they were about to die.

"Argh! I've beared this long enough!"

Teddie swept his blanket away, grabbed his trusty flashlight and leapt onto his feet, beginning to stomp towards Yosuke's bed, but quickly restraining himself when he remembered that one thing you really don't want to do in the Hanamura household is accidentally waking up Mama Hanamura. So instead of unleashing an outright rampage on Yosuke, he slid through the room, to Yosuke's side of it and started talking to him in a low voice.

"Pssst! Yosuke. …Yooooosuke!"

No reaction, but that wasn't a surprise. He wasn't talking very loudly; Yosuke's own mumbling was probably drowning Teddie's voice out before it even really reached his ears. Oh, what to do? This was a troubling situation! After all, Teddie was a bear-beauty and a beauty requires beauty-sleep! Plus, working at Junes in the late-summer heat was even more unbearable when you lacked the stamina to endure it.

"Yosuke!" Teddie repeated once more but all he got in return was yet more unintelligible rambling. "Grrr! Don't you know it's rude to ignore someone when they are talking to you? Just you wait!"

Teddie raised his hands, ready to put them both on Yosuke's shoulders and shake him.

_"…Saki…"_

His eyes widening, Teddie pulled back. What had Yosuke just said...?

_"Saki…"_ Yosuke was still mumbling, but his words were now clear enough for Teddie to understand. _"…I'm so sorry… Saki… so sorry…"_

"'Sorry'…?" Teddie repeated puzzled, with his mouth lightly gaping open. "Yosuke…?"

_"…Saki… Don't die, Saki… Please, don't leave me…"_

Teddie just stood there, paralyzed. So, that's what Yosuke had been dreaming off? That girl… Saki Konishi. Of course, Teddie remembered her. She was the second person that had been killed by the Shadows in his world. The second victim…

* * *

_"That Saki-Person… Who is she to you?"_

_Teddie, still on the ground, struggling to get back on his feet, asked the unfriendly boy with the headphones around his neck, but all he got in reply was a sharp gaze and silence from the otherwise so loud mouth._

* * *

"…"

In the shine of Teddie's flashlight, something was sparkling on Yosuke's face as he showed no signs of waking up.

_(He's sweating beary heavily…)_ Teddie thought, wondering if Yosuke was feeling hot. Maybe the nightmare would get better if Yosuke cooled down a little? He thought of taking away Yosuke's blanket or opening the window above his bed, but he didn't know if those would be good things to do. He generally felt confused. What could he do? No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't think of anything.

_"…Don't go…"_ Yosuke was still mumbling in his sleep and it sent a shiver down Teddie's back. _"Don't leave me… alone…"_

Teddie flinched.

* * *

_He hadn't been this curious about things he didn't know before but now ever since he'd started thinking about himself, these things, too, appeared in a new light to him. For a while, he stared at the hand-looking thing that moved back and forth before him without orientation. Then, he opened his mouth and bit into it. That's what he did when he didn't know what else to do with something. After all, there weren't many other ways to keep himself occupied here. _

_There was a sudden sound, like a voice in pain. So the hand-looking thing had actually been a hand? When Teddie heard the three humans' voices from the other side, he was happy at first. He asked them what game they had wanted to play, but one of them quickly started scolding him. It was the girl. It was the girl. Chie...chan, wasn't? That's how you addressed a girl, right? Well, at least he believed it was a girl. He couldn't tell the difference that well yet…_

_They didn't come to his side. Not to play, not to talk. Not even to scold him some more. On the clear screen of the exit, Teddie saw his own, frowning face reflected. Why was he frowning? He didn't understand. He was here, at his home, and it was calm. The Shadows weren't moving, and there was nothing to be scared of. If anything, the Shadows would get violent again if people came over here, and yet… He wanted them to come back over. He wanted it so badly. _

_This didn't make sense. Why was he feeling this? He had food, he had space and everything was calm. This was all he wanted. This… should be all he wanted. Or wasn't it? Why did he suddenly want something else? Why did he feel so… lonely?_

_'Lonely'… The word caused a sudden, painful twinge in the back of his head. He sat on the floor and cowered. It would be so nice if those people came back. Not to search for someone or to fight against Shadows… But what did he want them to do then? He didn't understand. _

_Maybe, something in him had changed… But how could anything in him change when there was nothing in him to begin with? He tried to calm himself with the thought that those people only didn't want to play with him because he was different from them… But that made him feel even worse. After all, he didn't even know what he was._

_He sat on the floor and couldn't cry. _

* * *

There were some tears in Teddie's eyes, but he tried to shake his head and calm down.

'Alone'. The one word he hated more than anything else in the world. The sound of it made him feel frustrated, sad and scared. He couldn't stand that feeling… was Yosuke feeling it right now? That wasn't right! Not when he had no reason to. He had to do something…

Carefully, Teddie led his hand to Yosuke's shoulder again. Was it OK to do that? Usually, he wouldn't have worried much about possibly invading Yosuke's privacy, but right now, he felt bad for him. It was probably this big knot he felt in his stomach… It made him feel sick, like everything was spinning a bit, but he knew that in actuality, it wasn't him who had a reason to feel sick; it was Yosuke. And somehow, he knew that if he would manage to make Yosuke feel better now, he'd be able to sleep easy again as well. He trusted this hunch.

"Yosuke...!" he lightly shook the taller boy's shoulder. He wasn't trying to wake him. He just wanted him to hear. "Yosuke… You're not alone...! I'm here…!"

_"Saki..."_ Yosuke mumbled again, this time raising his voice a bit at the end of the word. It almost sounded like a question. Teddie pulled his hand away. Saki again…

'Saki'… If he had known her, it would make her… 'Saki-chan', right?

He wondered what she was like, that Saki-chan. Was she a good person, despite all the things her Shadow had said? …Yes, she was. He knew she was. It was no wonder Yosuke missed her. It was no wonder he wanted to see her.

But… Saki-chan was gone…

_"Saki…Saki, come back… Please."_

Saki-chan wasn't coming back. Saki-chan was 'dead'. She would never come back

That's how it was for humans. Part of life is that it ends. And when they died, they could never return. That meant… you could never meet these people again. That was a 'truth'. And Teddie felt his stomach twisting again. _'Never being able to meet'_… _'Never being able to be with them'_… It made him feel sick, made him feel cold. Who Yosuke wanted to see, he couldn't help him meet. It was impossible. So he couldn't help Yosuke to get rid of this dream and make him stop feeling lonely when he didn't have to. Teddie couldn't do anything…

_"I'm sorry…"_

_(Stupid Yosuke…)_ despite the summer night being mild, Teddie found himself rubbing his hands against his arms in an attempt to warm up. _(I'm the one who's sorry…)_

He was right there. But he couldn't help. He didn't know if he should wake up Yosuke. He didn't know how to make Yosuke realize he wasn't alone. He couldn't help him to meet Saki-chan. He couldn't do anything…

_"Saki…"_

And it would keep going… and going… Gasping, whimpering, shivering, sweating… _'Saki', 'Saki', 'Saki', 'Saki_'—

_"…Please don't hate me…"_

…

Teddie stopped rubbing his arms. Somehow, he couldn't move them anymore. He felt heavy. He felt numb. He felt something on his face. His face… was wet…

* * *

_There's no one around. It's empty. _

_Nobody is searching for you_

_The world is beautiful, but the world is cold. You don't see the beauty in the cold. Nobody looks at you. Nobody seems to care. Nothing is warm…_

_Nobody needs you. _

**_-Please, don't hate me.-_**

_It's just normal, that not everyone can love you. It makes sense, that there are times when you'll be alone. And still, you can't accept that. So you want to ignore how alone you are. You ignore it whenever you are alone. Even when the hours turn to days. And the days to months._

**_-Please, don't leave me alone.-_**

_Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder if it's you. If you're not good enough. Not sweet enough, not interesting enough… not lovable enough. Deep inside, you want to change that. But it doesn't seem like you. You don't think you could. You ignore that idea._

**_-Please, let me do something.-_**

_Nothing changes. Because you are too scared to try. You tell yourself that, maybe, you are better off by yourself. That others might just holding you back. It's a lie, you know that. But you don't want to think of that. You lie to yourself, because it is easier. And then you start shutting them out, so you aren't reminded of what you really want. But I…I'm… _

_I…__**I**__ don't care for what __**you**__ think or do._

_No… __**I**__ don't want to be hated!__** I**__ don't want to be alone! __**I **__want to do something!_

**_I want to be liked! I want to be with people! _**

**_I want to change!_**

_I want this, for myself! It doesn't matter if you ignore it! What you want doesn't matter to me!_

**_You_**_… and …__**I**__… There's a difference!_

_Right… I…I'm not like you…_

_**I'm not you!**_

* * *

He was thinking of something. He knew he was. But somehow, the thoughts didn't make much sense. He couldn't make heads of tails of them. It was like back, when he was alone in his world and would think and think until his head felt like it was bursting, without coming to a conclusion. Everything that came to him was like gibberish, senseless, meaningless. His body felt drained of warmth, too. Why was this happening now? …Maybe Yosuke's nightmares were contagious.

Teddie could move again and began to wipe the tears from his face. He hadn't even noticed that he had been crying. What a difference… not too long ago, he hadn't even been able to cry when he tried. He really had changed a lot… And yet, he still couldn't do anything. Yosuke was still having nightmares. He was still mumbling and still moved like he was in great pain. Teddie looked at him, biting his lip. Would someone else be able to help Yosuke? If yes, then why couldn't he? Why were there things he couldn't do, no matter how hard he tried?

"_Saki_…" he heard Yosuke say one more time, and once again, Teddie's stomach twisted.

This feeling… it was different from the heaviness in his body and the numbness that overcame him when he thought of being alone and the cold, sick feeling he had when he thought of how helpless he was. It was different from the tears the jumbled thoughts in his head caused him, too. Finally, Teddie realized… This feeling was 'guilt'.

And with every time Yosuke said that girl's… Saki-chan's name… he felt guiltier. At first, he hadn't noticed it. But now, he was starting to understand. And it hurt like needles. This feeling was just as bad as the ones he had already known before. Maybe even worse. He felt his knees growing weak. He had to get out of here. He couldn't keep standing here. He had to go somewhere… anywhere, somewhere… He wanted to run away…

He felt even guiltier. He grinded his teeth. Running… Running… Was that all he was good for?

But his body felt so weak and his thoughts didn't make sense… What point was there in trying to do something he couldn't do? What could he hope to reach? No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to overcome himself…

…He was sick of catching himself thinking that way.

Teddie shook his head. It was no use, he wasn't thinking clearly. Like this, he wouldn't make Yosuke feel any better. If anything, he was going to make it worse. And what would Mama Hanamura think if she saw both of them making the same tired gloom-and-doom face during breakfast? She would probably get worried. Teddie sighed. Maybe he had to admit defeat. He wasn't going to help Yosuke with his nightmares and giving himself nightmares too was hardly a solution. He had to get his head clear… But how to get his head clear? By eating something? But he had already eaten all the snacks under his bed and if he raided the fridge, he'd only get scolded. There was one thing he could do, though. He had seen it on TV before, just never tried it yet. However, if anything, this was the perfect time. Giving Yosuke and his nightmares one last, sad look, Teddie headed outside of the room, quietly opening and closing the door behind him.

* * *

The splash was loud. It was sure good this was on another floor than the bedrooms, or he would probably have been in trouble. The water was cold, but he didn't mind that right now. It was supposed to be cold. The TV said so. So if he wanted it to help, the water had to be cold. He felt like it actually did help. He sighed loudly when the stream ran down his forehead, shoulders and back. His hair, now wet enough to hang straight down (and like this, it reached almost all the way to his shoulders), was also dripping. For a moment, he imagined what he might look like right now, with the water splashing all around him, his hair soaked and the droplets all over his body. It was probably a pretty sexy image… like the commercials that Rise-chan always did. A smile crossed his face when he thought of that. It was fun imagining that. It would be even more fun if he could show someone and ask… But right now, there was no one here. Right. He wanted to clear his head. So he could go to sleep again. So everything could be normal again tomorrow. Teddie threw back his head and splashed some more water in his face…

…This was something he hadn't even been able to imagine himself doing, back then. Yeah, back, when he met humans for the first time… That was…

* * *

_That person seemed so scared. He could see it on their face. _

_It was the second time he had seen a face like this, as far as he could remember, but still, he immediately knew what this expression was. And just like with the ones before, he also knew that this person was "human". And that it was probably a "girl". _

_Not like any of that was important. What was important was that they… 'she' had to leave this place. Right, she had to go. Because if she didn't, the Shadows would continue to rampage. It scared him. The Shadows scared him. He just wanted them to calm down and go to sleep. Then he, too, would be able to be at peace. _

_The 'girl' kept stumbling around, disoriented. She hadn't seen him. He tried calling something out to her. She jerked and her eyes widened. Then she jumped onto her feet and ran away. He gulped. If she ran away, then he couldn't lead her out! And the Shadows would grow more and more violent and then…_

_He decided to run after her. He couldn't run very fast, but as long as he tried to evade all Shadows, he should be alright, right? So he was extra careful not to approach any. The place the girl led him into as he chased after her was strange. The floor was hard, like stone, but it didn't look like normal stone, the surface was neither smooth nor edgy. This was a… 'street'. He suddenly knew that. And the things left and right… those were houses… no, stores! Stores in houses. _

_What odd kind of place had he ended up in? He didn't remember seeing a place like this here ever before. Did that girl make that place? Then maybe she came from a place like this. He briefly wondered if this was what places where humans live looked like… But then he smelt some Shadows and stopped thinking. He got back to running and evading. _

_Closer and closer, he approached. The girl had halted. Maybe he would reach her this time! That other time, the scent of that person had been so far, he hadn't dared to even try going close before that person's presence had already disappeared again. But maybe this time it would be like a bit earlier today, when he had managed to get those three other people out! Feeling encouraged by that, he sped up a bit. But as suddenly has he had become motivated, he was demotivated again. Before he knew it, he smelt Shadows. Many, many Shadows. He stopped. No. He couldn't go where the Shadows were, no, no! There was no way he could… The idea of getting too close to the Shadows scared him so much…_

_He tried turning. Maybe he could take another route? He would just have to take a bit of a longer way. That was fine, it would be fine. He could still reach that girl, right? She was still there, he could still sense her. But it didn't take long before he smelt something different again. More Shadows. Quickly, he took another turn. But there were Shadows here too…! He turned again. More Shadows. And again… and again…_

_Finally, he found himself in a high place. He could look over the entirety of the long street with the stores from here. After a moment, he realized where he was; he had somehow ended up on top of one of the buildings. That's why he could overview the whole area. But where had the girl gone? A quick sniff later, he knew. Just across the street, in the building across the one he was standing on… he could feel her presence. For a moment, he felt motivation welling up. That wasn't so far! Maybe he could still reach her… But then, he realized how high up he was. The street was several meters under his legs. If he tried to jump here, would he get hurt…? But if he didn't, that girl…_

_He froze. He smelt a Shadow. A strong one. It had amazing power… He hadn't ever felt one that strong before._

"Are you actually worried about that place? That's stupid. What good has it brought you? If you claim there was anything you like about it… That's a lie."

"W…Who are you?"

_Voices. There were voices from inside that store. What was going on? Was that girl speaking to herself? It sounded like it, but… Why would she do that? Why, when there was such a powerful Shadow around? He felt that he should do something, should at least go to check, but… his feet were like frozen to the ground in fear. He couldn't move. _

"Who cares about Junes, anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbors talk behind my back… Admit it, that's what you really think about that place."

"T-That… That's not…"

"I wish everything would just disappear… Our store and Junes and the neighbors and my parents… Everything! I'm sick of trying to care, when nothing and nobody cares for me or for how I feel!"

"That's not true!"_ The girls voice answered in a different tone. "_There… There are people who care for me! There's people who really… really think about how I feel…"

"Really? I can't think of anyone. Or... when you say "caring", are you talking about that dip that is Manager Hanamura's son? Yosuke Hanamura… Oh, please."

_Teddie found himself listening up. 'Yosuke'… he didn't think the word meant anything, but still… it seemed familiar. Like he had heard it somewhere before._

"Yeah… 'Hana~chan~…That little pain in the ass. I'm nice to him just because he is the store manager's son, that's all there is to it! But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic… I can't stand that. 'Hey, Senpai, wanna go to the movies?', 'Oh, Senpai, I saw something the other day, I really wanted to tell you about.', 'Senpai, are you feeling well, do you need a break?', "Senpai, senpai, let me kiss your butt!'. Yeah, no thank you. Before you know, he'll ask if he can call me 'Saki-chan' and declare me his property! He's the worst."

"Who do you think you are? You're a hypocrite, complaining about people talking about someone behind their back and now… this…"

"Heh… exactly. I am a hypocrite! Or rather… you are."

"…Why are you saying this…!"

_The girl's voice was once full of malicious glee, then shaking with anger. _

"I'm only saying the truth. This is the reality. Your reality. How you really feel!"

"No, it's not! None of it is true! Not about our store, or Junes or even… Hanamura…"

"Oh? So, now he's 'Hanamura'? Didn't take much to make you drop the familiarities, did it?"

_The girl's malicious voice laughed. As it still did, the non-malicious voice stuttered._

"T-That… That's just…"

"It's annoying how much this derailed. I should have known that idiot would only end up falling for me. Ugh, I should have gotten rid of him at the first signs of that… but in the end, Junes pays better than our store. That's really not a chance I could just let go, right? Even if that means enduring being the object of that pervert's fantasies."

"What?! He's not… I mean, maybe, but… He isn't just…"

"…He isn't just after the underside of your skirt? You really think that? Oh, please. Now you're just being ridiculous. I know guys like him better than I wish I did. Yeah, those guys… when they're nice to a girl, what they want is never a friendship. There's no way they'd be satisfied with that. Just face the truth. Your friendship isn't enough for him. And now you're stuck with that disgusting dweeb and you **hate** it."

"…"

_The non-malicious part of the voice had fallen silent._

_Teddie watched from above the roof… The Shadows' power seemed to be growing, if his nose wasn't wrong. If there really was a big Shadow in that house, that girl would never make it out alive… And whatever was happening in there right now, it was putting her in pain. And there was no one to help her._

_No one? For a short moment, Teddie felt like a voice was trying to tell him something, urging him to do something, but he didn't know how that could be. Nobody was here. Just him and the Shadows. Nobody could help that girl. _

_And then he realized the fact, that she would die and he felt like struck by lightning, everything hurt. He didn't even fully understand why, but… the idea of her dying here, now, like this… it hurt. But there was nothing that could be done now. She was in a room with a Shadow. She couldn't escape anymore. _

_What was he even still doing here? Soon, the Shadows would definitely totally lose it. He had to get away, as quickly as possible… But something kept him from leaving. He kept listening. _

"Poor, scorned transfer student, forever cursed with the mark of being associated to Junes! Really, one should feel sorry for him. But never fear, I will be his angel! Just a put-on smile and a nice word here and there… Can you see what a great person I am, Yosuke Hanamura? I am sure, you want to go to your Daddy now and tell him what a great, great girl Saki Konishi is, right? Definitely worth a raise or two. Admit it, THAT'S the way you wanted him to see you!"

"He's… not a bad person…"_ the girl's other voice stuttered again. _"Even if he's annoying and clingy... Even if I wish he'd stop bugging me all the time. Really… he doesn't deserve how unfair people are to him… I really… do care…"

"You're still telling yourself that? That you stuck with him out of the goodness of your own heart? That you only didn't quit Junes so he wouldn't be upset? That it didn't matter to you that he'd drop you like a hot potato the moment you 'friendzone' him? Face it, in the end you care just as little for him as he cares for you as a person. Just like your parents and the neighbors don't care. And you don't care for them or Junes. Yeah, that's the truth… Just like absolutely nobody cares for you, you don't really care for anybody or anything!"

"No! Shut up… JUST SHUT UP! You don't know me! And you don't know my parents, or Junes or the neighbors or Hanamura… You don't know anything at all! You aren't…**You're not me!**"

_…That moment, a horrible, loud laughter echoed through the area. And suddenly, there was energy, everywhere in the air. The Shadow's strength, it was rising rapidly. And Teddie could no longer contain his fear. As quickly as his feet could carry him, he jumped up and ran away, away from the buildings, the street, the building presence of the Shadows. _

_When he had just reached the boarder of the long street, there was a sound that made him stop and turn for just a moment. A loud, piercing scream. And then… nothing. Nothing more…_

_…The girl's presence disappeared._

_Teddie stumbled a bit before he continued running._

* * *

He turned off the water. He had cheated with the last few minutes of showering and turned the temperature up, unable to bear the freezing cold water any longer. Maybe that was why his head hadn't cleared up as much as he wished it had. But at least some things were clearer now. Teddie stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel to rub his wet hair dry as much as necessary in the summer heat. Then, he dried his body and slipped back into red and blue pajamas the girls and Kanji had made for him…

…Saki-chan. Teddie thought over all that he had just remembered once again, carefully and slowly. Back then, he hadn't understood it. None of it. He hadn't known human life or relationships or what the Shadows do to torture their hosts. But now, it was different. Now he understood everything... He felt like, just now in the shower, it was truly the first time he had met Saki-chan. Only now, he had come to know here… And only now, he understood what had happened back then. And what _he_ had done.

_(…It's my fault…)_

He let his head hang. Right. That was the answer. The reason for why there was this knot in his stomach when Yosuke had nightmares of Saki-chan. The reason why this feeling of guilt didn't go away, making him feel even worse than he already did.

_(I was there… right there… I basically just… watched her die and…)_

…And couldn't do anything? Was that really true? But what was when Rise-chan's Shadow attacked his friends? Hadn't he done something back then? The truth was that it wasn't that Teddie couldn't have done anything. It was that he _hadn't_. He had been too scared, too focused on saving himself… In the end, he never even made it inside the store. He could have saved her. But he _didn't_.

He had read about that in the library. They call it 'Omission'. It was a crime.

There his stomach went twisting again. But at least now he knew why it did that. And somehow, he felt that the twisting, knotting stomach was still pretty soft of a punishment. After all, if he hadn't been such a coward, she wouldn't have died. If he had done something, Saki-chan might have returned home, just like Yuki-chan or Kanji or Rise-chan. And then Yosuke wouldn't be having those nightmares now.

_(…But I didn't know that…)_ Teddie kept rubbing his hair in the towel again, even though it was long dry. _(Back then, I didn't know I had that power… I didn't know what I could do… So… was what I did really wrong?)_

He thought a bit.

_(...But in the end, that only means that I was useless because I didn't know. I was still useless either way. Just like I'm useless in helping Yosuke right now… Heh. I'm a useless bear through and through-)_

-Wait. 'Didn't know'? Why did that make him feel like he was missing something? Didn't know… didn't know…

There were a lot of things he didn't know. Who or what he was. This world. He didn't know everything about his friends either. And, as he just neatly demonstrated, he didn't even know everything about the things he had seen and heard…Wait. That was it.

_(Yosuke… Yosuke never saw that…) _Suddenly, it came to Teddie. _(He wasn't there when Saki-chan was talking to her Shadow. And the bit we heard when his Shadow appeared… That was all out of context! He doesn't know the whole story!)_

Teddie strained his head and concentrated. Think, think, think. What did Yosuke say in his sleep again? _Saki, I'm sorry, don't go away, don't leave me alone, I'm sorry, please don't hate me…_

…"I'm sorry". "Please don't hate me".

Teddie's eyes opened wide. If he understood that right… Then… Yosuke had nothing to feel sorry for!

A wide smile spread all across Teddie's face. Now he knew _exactly_ what he had to do.

Dropping the towel for his hair on the floor, Teddie left the bathroom with quick steps and returned to Yosuke's and his room.

* * *

_'Face it, in the end you care just as little for him as he cares for you as a person.'_

Teddie remembered this line. Clearly and in detail. Saki-chan's Shadow had said that. And that "Hanamura" they had been speaking of… That was Yosuke, no doubt about it. It had to be him. So, in other words, it said… 'Saki cares for Yosuke as much as Yosuke cares for Saki'? In that case…

Teddie stepped up to Yosuke's bedside again. He was still in sweat, still mumbling in his sleep, still looking pained. At least the second part was good – the mumbling. Dreaming people don't lie. Teddie had read that in one of the books he had to look himself up in. There had been a lot of odd stuff in it… Really difficult descriptions of Shadows, for example, written with really abstract words. (Teddie still believed it was talking about the same "Shadows". It seemed to fit.) In any case, if Yosuke couldn't lie right now… then this would have to work.

"Yosuke…" Teddie tried to speak softly, but loud enough so he'd hear him. "…Did you care for Saki-chan a lot?"

There was a short silence. This was how Teddie knew Yosuke had heard him. Because up to that point, he had be mumbling without halt. Now, however, he was calm, though his face still seemed tense. And then, all too sudden, Teddie felt something gripping around the hand he had put on Yosuke's bedside… Yosuke had taken his hand.

He knew he was here.

_"I…"_ Yosuke started a sentence. It was the first time he answered with anything other than Saki's name. _"…I love you, Saki…I… care for you…so much…"_

Teddie smiled. This was all he needed to hear before he could go on. It was a bit awkward, how Yosuke was gripping to his hand. After all, this was Yosuke. But right now, he didn't mind. He kept holding on to it and bent down a bit to the other boy.

"Yosuke," he started again, this time absolutely sure about what to say. It was something only he could say in all honesty. Because he had heard something Yosuke had not. Something only he could do.

"Saki-chan didn't hate you, Yosuke. She cared for you. So much."

Once more silence reigned. And then, a reaction showed on Yosuke's face. His muscles relaxed, he looked less tense. In fact his whole body seemed to relax. The legs, previously pulled right to his stomach, stretched away a bit and his grip on Teddie's hand, too, became softer. Like this, Yosuke seemed to calm down… And Teddie even swore he even spotted a slight smile on his face.

It was over. Yosuke's Night-Terror of Doom was defeated.

"Wheew! Finally!"

Teddie pulled his fingers away from Yosuke's and stepped back a bit, eyeing his 'work' proudly. Teddie, savior of good night sleep! Maybe he should start a therapist's office? It was then, that Teddie heard a loud yawn… and realized it was his own.

"Oh… Whoops! I growled…Heh…"

He hadn't even realized how tired he had become… How late it might have gotten in the meantime? He didn't even care, actually. All that mattered was that for the rest of the night, both, Yosuke and Teddie himself would be able to sleep peacefully. If that wasn't an achievement, what was?

Feeling satisfied with himself, Teddie got on his way back to bed, his trusty flashlight right with him. He was sure that if he told Yosuke about this the next morning, he probably wouldn't believe him. But he didn't mind too much. Teddie himself knew it and that's what mattered to him. He had been able to be of help after all.

Bidding his flashlight and the sleeping Yosuke goodnight, Teddie slipped away to what would only amount to three more hours of night sleep before the sun would rise.


End file.
